In recent years, a number of video game/toy hybrid systems have emerged where figurines of movie, comic, or story characters can “come to life” in a video game. As an example, typical video game/toy hybrid systems enable a player to “import” a character represented by a figurine into the video game by placing the figurine on a portal device attached to a game console. Each game session may require the player to import the character (via the placement of the figurine) to utilize the character to accomplish various tasks in the game during the session. From the perspective of the player, the figurine and the character may become “synonymous” with one another as the player continues to use the figurine to access the character in the video game. As the character grows in-game (e.g., levels up) and obtains new abilities and special powers, the value of the figurine to the player may also increase—further adding to the collectability value of the figurine.
Due to the popularity of hybrid video game/toy systems, counterfeit figurines or other products for such systems are manufactured and sold to take advantage of the superior value of the imitated products, which, in turn, negatively affects the reputation of the imitated products, and reduces profits for companies that design, manufacture, and sell the imitated products. Although some systems may associate unique identifiers with their figurines (or other components) to alleviate counterfeiting issues, the unique identifiers may still be compromised and utilized to create counterfeit versions. These and other drawbacks exist.